...Switched on waste experts at West Sussex County Council have plugged into legislation that will save money on unwanted electrical goods. They have already registered the County Council's West Sussex-wide network of Household Waste Recycling Sites as Designated Collection Facilities (DCFs) for electrical equipment. Registration means the County Council will avoid most of the likely increases in cost arising from new environmental laws affecting the future disposal of electrical waste.... more...

...Sims Group is expanding the size and capacity of its Manchester facility, in anticipation of the introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in July. The expansion will increase the amount of WEEE handled by over 50 per cent.... more...

...WITH companies preparing for the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive enforcement in July, they will come under increasing scrutiny and could face damaging costs if they don't have proper procedures in place when deleting data from computers.... more...

...New BGA Interposers from Advanced Interconnections are a cost-effective method for converting lead-free BGA device packages for use on boards processed with lower temperature, Tin/Lead solder profiles. Designed for RoHS exempt applications, Interposers from Advanced solve BGA device transition, obsolescence, and solderability issues associated with the higher temperature requirements to process lead-free BGA packages.... more...

...A politician has announced his backing for calls to change the way the EC directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is implemented. Adam Afriyie, the Conservative MP for Windsor, met with representatives of the computing industry to discuss the impact of the WEEE regulation's enforcement on smaller businesses.... more...

...Retailer Currys has announced it will launch the first UK in-store based recycling scheme for end-of-life electrical products. The scheme will work with the Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE) directive and launch on June 28, before the WEEE directive comes in to effect on July 1.... more...

...Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten has directed Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO) to develop an industry-funded waste diversion program for electronic waste. The program will recognize the value of these materials and ensure potentially toxic components, like lead and mercury, are kept out of landfills.... more...

...The Contract Manufacturing and Lead-Free Symposiums will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. . . .The Lead-free Symposium will feature paper sessions on Solder Joint Reliability of SAC Alloy Variants, Lead-Free iNEMI Projects, Advances in Lead-Free Solder Joint Reliability, and Lead-Free Case Studies. Additionally, a plenary session will be held on a China RoHS Update.... more...

...Dinah Greek, Computeract!ve 21 Jun 2007 - Consumers could end up footing part of the bill so local authorities can upgrade amenity sites to cope with waste electrical and electronic equipment. This warning from the Local Government Association (LGA) comes as local councils get ready to comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive which comes into force on 1 July.... more...

...As environmental regulations spread around the globe - and domestically throughout the United States - many companies are turning to a broad-based approach to compliance. Many of the leading electronics companies such as component/subassembly providers, EMS providers and OEMs are deploying what’s coming to be known as compliance assurance systems (CAS).... more...

...The Environment Agency has released data on which producer compliance schemes hold the largest share of the business WEEE compliance market in the UK. It shows that members of the Dutch scheme Accerio WEEE Scheme hold 31.7% of the B2B electronics market for the UK.... more...

...The market surveillance process required by the RoHS directive has already started in several EU countries. RoHS market surveillance uses the same procedures as the supervision processes for safety and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of E&E products. The steps involved are education, check of documents and testing, which in the case of RoHS includes screening with XRF-techniques and chemical analysis.... more...

...Richard Kenshole highlights the most important points about 'China RoHS' legislation and offers his opinions on how it will affect our industry.... more...

...When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU on the 1st of January 2007, the majority of EU Directives and Regulations also came into force.... more...

... Members of the public and volunteers gathered together in Dublin on Friday to unload and sort masses of old electrical equipment in a WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Ireland recycling event hosted by Dell.... more...

...The Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) is expected to circulate a draft RoHS standard for consultation starting on the 19th of February.... more...

...India’s Wipro Ltd. has introduced new PCs that are compliant with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. The move by Wipro to offer RoHS compliant products follows a 2005 demonstration by activists of environmentalist organization Greenpeace International who dumped old PCs outside the Bangalore headquarters of Wipro, one of India's largest computer manufacturers and IT service providers.... more...

...UGS PLM Software has released a guide to ensuring that WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive-compliant practices are central to the product lifecycle in manufacturing organizations throughout Europe. The report, titled Five Steps to a Greener Production Line - a Quick-Start Guide to WEEE and RoHS Compliance, is available to current and prospective UGS customers through local UGS PLM Software resellers.... more...

...When Xin Yu first heard of REACH, the European Union's new regulation on chemicals, his immediate response was to wonder if it was the same as RoHS, another EU regulation forbidding the use of hazardous substances. It was a natural reaction for Xin: he doesn't have much time to think about regulatory changes these days. In fact, now is the busiest time of the year for the textile exporter in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.... more...

...Visitors to Innov-X's Booth at the SMTA's Upper Midwest Vendor Show and SMTA Successful Lead-Free RoHS Strategies Conference will learn how using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) can screen components, parts and PCB's for compliance with the European Union's RoHS Directives.... more...

...As electronics brand owners and manufacturers emerge from their RoHS ordeals, many are becoming increasingly aware that the EU's RoHS directive was only the first in a litany of environmental standards and legislation that affect their ability to sell their products on the global market.... more...

...Ageus Solutions offers services to assist clients in meeting their obligations and mitigating their exposure under California's Proposition 65. Proposition 65 includes many material restrictions already encountered by electronics manufacturers under RoHS-type legislation, but is much broader and farther reaching.... more...

...Dr. Craig Hillman will present "A Case Study in Tin Whisker Risk Assessment" at the SMTA Successful Lead-Free RoHS Strategies Conference in Boxborough, MA. The conference will be held June 20-21, 2007.... more...

...The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) has released a consensus framework that is intended to pave the way for federal legislation establishing a national program for recycling household TVs and information technology products such as computers and monitors. The EIA’s Environmental Issues Council, which includes companies such as HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Sharp, approved the plan, and EIA officials have delivered copies to the Bush Administration, key lawmakers on Capital Hill, state officials, industry stakeholders and environmental advocacy organizations.... more...

...Intel Corporation today announced that its future processors, beginning with its entire family of 45 nanometer (nm) high-k metal gate (Hi-k) processors, are going 100 percent lead-free. The Intel 45nm Hi-k family includes the next-generation Intel(R) Core(tm) 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Xeon(R) processors, and the company will begin 45nm Hi-k production in the second half of this year.... more...

...The newest RoHS was set in motion by Korea on April 2. The compliance date is Jan. 1, 2008. And like many of the emerging RoHS-style environmental regulations, the details of compliance are not clear.... more...

...Cookson Electronics Assembly Materials (CEAM) introduced ALPHA WS-819 water-soluble lead-free solder paste for PCB assembly of high-reliability end products. The paste targets cleanability, voiding resistance, and printing compatibility.... more...

...National Physical Laboratory proudly showed, for the first time publicly, a time-lapse film taken over a 24-hour period, showing the complete disintegration of pure tin. This Tin Pest video is a world first and is likely to be requested by other technical organisations. NPL is currently looking to see how best to provide access for its showing.... more...

...How far should manufacturers go in making their products green? Some corporate leaders say they won’t be done until no waste goes into landfill. Listen to this interview with Pam Gordon, president of the research firm, Technology Forecasters Inc.... more...